As we think about the world around us

With events frightening at times, accelerating at times, perplexing at times, and we wonder where we’re headed and what life is going to be like, it’s good to think about the past. Because even though current times seem so extraordinary, nevertheless the past can shed light on the present and the future.

How far back should we go in the past? Well, if we go back a few decades, things seem so relatively peaceful. We go back further than that, and there were wars, world wars, and other wars. Certainly in the time of the Middle Ages, the time of the Crusades, and also going back to the Romans, we have seen a range of wars. It seems that there have always been wars between people.

When it comes to knowing how to live our lives, that too has changed over the ages, with different ideas and ideologies. So one thing we can say when we look back in history, is that the world has not been too successful in bringing peace and prosperity for all; and this in spite of different and new ideologies being tried all the time. Socialism capitalism and so on. They’ve all had good points but also not good points.

So when we look back, what we are seeing is an attempt of humankind to find something that works, all through the ages — but nothing really succeeding on a world scale that would be good for the entire world. And even when we examine individual countries and particular civilizations, we also find that the way those countries and nations ran their lives, did not always obtain the most optimum results.

So does that mean that things are hopeless? Does that mean there is nothing to be done? Or is there still something in history that we can look at that can shed light?

One thing in history that is extraordinary is the survival of the Jewish nation, even as empires and civilizations went up and down and rose and disappeared. The tiny Jewish nation, exiled thousands of years ago, among all the nations all over the world, did not abandon their tradition, their faith, their allegiance to the Torah, to their G-d; and they survived even as mighty empires perished.

So this is one part of history that, when we look closely at it, we can see that there is something truthful here. Because when we talk about truth, truth has the meaning of something that does not disappear, does not end. Truth goes on, truth is eternal. The Talmud’s expression ‘a lying river’ refers to a river that dries up once in seven years. Because if the river’s water dries up, then in a certain sense it’s not truthful. It doesn’t flow constantly as a river.

So by the Jewish people surviving all through the centuries due to their allegiance to the Torah, this tells us that when we look back at history and see this and think about it, that we can learn from this that Torah, by which the Jewish people based there ideology and their actions and their beliefs, is true. Because those who abided by the Torah are around now.

We have the answer now. We now know what will work for society, for civilization. Now we know how to stop the wars and how to keep the world peaceful and, and how to bring harmony and prosperity to the entire world. The answer is, the Torah was given at Mount Sinai to the Jewish people, and at Mount Sinai G-d told Moses to tell all the nations the seven Noahide laws. The answer to civilizations’ quest for truth, happiness, peace, and prosperity lies in adherence to those seven Noahide laws that G-d told Moses at Mount Sinai.

G-d revealed Himself, gave the Torah, and told Moses the seven Noahide laws at Mount Sinai. It was an event that was witnessed by millions of people, men, women, and children, and they passed it on to their descendants throughout the generations. And they discussed the revelation, the millions of witnesses seeing G-d reveal Himself at Mount Sinai, Moses receiving the commandments and teaching them to the Jewish people, and also the seven laws that God told Moses at Mount Sinai to tell all the nations of the world.

All this is recorded in the Torah, both the written Torah and the oral Torah that was transmitted from father to child, teacher to student, throughout all the generations.

At no point could someone just stand up and say, “You know, your ancestors saw the Torah given.” Because how would that story start? If it’s a made-up story, the children will say, “Well how come we’re hearing about it now for the first time, why didn’t we hear about it as we grew up? Why didn’t we hear this from our parents and grandparents? Can we accept something that just came out of the blue? We don’t know if it happened or not.”

The story of revelation of Torah  has been transmitted in an unbroken chain. Not that there’s a brand new story that the teacher tells the student, or a few parents get together and decide they’re gonna tell their kids, but it’s something that the whole nation was taught and heard from their parents consistently throughout the generations.

They were taught by their parents all the way back, a chain unbroken, to Mount Sinai. Thus we know that this is a historical revelation that was truly witnessed by millions of witnesses.

It’s the same as any historical fact, like George Washington existing, Napoleon existing or even Alexander the Great existing. Things that were recorded in history books and seen by witnesses, many witnesses, are accepted as historical facts. The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai has this quality to it, something that millions of witnesses themselves witnessed.

It’s different when someone comes to you and says, “I had a vision and believe me.” So then you have a choice whether to believe them or not. But here the people themselves, millions of people, saw the revelation at Mount Sinai.

It wasn’t that Moses came to them and said that he had a revelation and believe him. Rather they saw it themselves, witnessed it themselves as a historical fact, and then transmitted it to their descendants.

It has the strength of any historical fact that we accept as being real and true, even if we didn’t see it ourselves, but we know that it was transmitted to the generations in history books, and by people who saw George Washington, who saw Napoleon and told their people about it.

This being the case, the world can look at the Torah with confidence. The world can look at the seven laws that G-d told Moses at Mount Sinai to tell the nations to adhere to, and they can tell themselves, whether they’re in China, Russia, North Korea, Canada, United States, or South America or Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, or wherever are, that they have something that, if they put their minds to it, they can tell themselves: “OK, nothing’s worked till now; but this revelation from G-d was witnessed by millions of people; G-d told Moses at Mount Sinai to tell all nations to adhere to the seven Noahide laws — this can work, this can bring peace to the world. This is what we should be doing. The Torah kept the people Jewish people surviving for thousands of years under the most dire circumstances, and the Torah’s message can keep humanity, safe and peaceful. It’s what will work, it’s what will save humanity. It’s what will stop the wars once and for all.”

We watch Israel now fighting a war of survival against terrorists, and even against world pressure. Antisemitism has reared its ugly head. World leaders clamp down on the anti-Semitism, but they also pressure Israel to stop fighting and destroying the evil that is Hamas.

As we watch Israel, bravely, fiercely and fearlessly fight the war of good and truth, this itself can teach the world and reinforce the message, that just as the Jewish people have survived till now, because of their Torah which G-d gave them, and they fight against the world in order to do what’s right and true, so too the world can tell itself that we can learn from the example of Israel, G-d’s chosen people, and we can take this lesson to heart and decide that the Creator of the world, Who makes the world exist every moment, that He alone knows what will keep the world peaceful.

Also, looking and learning from our past, the Torah relates that the prophets, including a non-Jewish prophet — Bilaam — talked about Redemption. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe, leader of the Jewish people in recent history, told us that the coming of Redemption is imminent. And he told us that by doing an extra deed, another act of kindness, we prepare the world for the coming of Moshiach.

By taking this lesson to heart and adding in deeds of kindness and goodness and caring, we can hasten the Redemption. And by looking at the Torah, the Jewish people bonding strongly with G-d by fulfilling their Mitzvot (laws of the Torah), and nations of the world obeying the seven laws of Noah, and by seeing how G-d is protecting His people even nowadays, we can internalize this vibrant lesson of the present day, and of history, and realize, that the way we can save the world is by obeying G-d’s message.

And surely this will hasten the marvellous revelation of Redemption, when the prophet Isaiah says that “the whole world will be filled with knowledge of G-d, just as the waters cover the sea.” May it happen very soon.